A Revisal of Shakespear's Text, wherin the Alterations introduced into the more modern Editors and Critics are particularly considered.
London: W. Johnston, 1765.
Price: $500.00
About the item
First edition. xiv, [ii], 573 pp. 1 vols. 8vo. Later boards. Bookplate to front pastedown. Nice copy. Jaggard 146; Lowndes 1029.
Item #234379
Heath labors to "contribute his endoeavours towards a more correct and genuine edition of Shakespear's text than hath been published."
Johnson, whose Shakespeare was published the same year, was immediately accused of plagiarism by William Kenrick in the Monthly Review--Johnson supposedly borrowing from Heath some 70 or 80 times. The details are confused and probably would have necessitated Johnson getting hold of a pre-publication copy of Heath's text. The debate about Johnson's indebtedness to Heath is in no way settled, and charges of plagiarism have continued into the 20th century.
